Shepherd of The Hills

This postcard folder  from Branson, Missouri was postmarked in 1925. It has lots of pictures of Marvel Cave. I won't bore you with those, but I will show you the much more interesting views from Shepherd of the Hills. The card doesn't tell you anything about Shepherd of the Hills. I think it's assumed that you already know. I didn't.

In the pictures below, we see the postmaster and Uncle Matt and Aunt Mollie, parents of young Matt. Apparently, you are already supposed to know who young Matt is, because no explanation is provided.  It turns out that this all refers to a book called The Shepherd of the Hills, written in 1907 by Harold Bell Wright. Years later the book was made into a movie starring John Wayne. The story is loosely based on the residents of the area, presumably including Uncle Matt and Aunt Mollie. You can find out more about the book here. Re-enactments of the story have been produced in Branson since 1960.

Here's another photo of Ike, the postmaster.

And here's the back of the folder.

Durban, South Africa

Here's an early view of the beach promenade in Durban, South Africa. I spent a year in South Africa many years ago. Although I didn't live in Durban, I did visit some friends there. It didn't look a bit like this picture, much more developed.

In Durban and also in Johannesburg, I visited what we called a witch doctor's shop. I'm not sure that's an accurate description, but in both cases the proprietor sold remedies and potions made from both plant and animal products, which were supposed to cure ailments, bring you good health, good luck, break spells, etc.
Here's are a couple of snapshots I took in the Durban shop.

Note the cash register on the left. And in the photo below, the cashier is ready to ring up the purchase.  What was the purchase? Well, there were lots of exciting things we could have bought, but we were very young with little money to spend.  About the only thing we could afford was a dung ball. Yep, that's one of those cute little spherical balls of elephant dung rolled by a dung beetle. Our instructions were to pinch off part of the ball, roll it into a little wick, attach it to the top of the ball and light it for good luck.  It's hard to say if it worked or not.

On another occasion, a friend of mine went to a witch doctor's shop in Johannesburg to buy some 'love potion' for a friend in the United States. The doctor took one look at him and said, "Oh, love potion...for you? Extra Strong!" I guess he thought my skinny white friend needed a lot of help.  When my friend returned to the United States, he gave the potion to the woman who had requested it. The tiny bottle sat on her shelf for several years unopened, until one day she decided to dab some on before going to a party.  She didn't break out in a rash, which is what I would have expected, but she did meet the man she would later marry at that party. A coincidence, no doubt, but it made for a good story.

If you'd like to learn more about the dung beetle (and who doesn't?), you can watch them in action on this National Geographic Video.
Be sure to check out Sepia Saturday this week too...no dung at all there.

Greetings from the Cemetery

I understand the reasons for sending a postcard from a hospital or a school, but who would send a postcard from a cemetery?  I would expect the message to read: "Just buried Uncle Bob. We would have invited you to the funeral, but the weather was hot so we had to get it done quickly."
Nope, people just used them to send regular old greetings, with no reference to the cemetery at all.
Here are two cemeteries in Pennsylvania, one in Lancaster and one in Lewisburg.

I like the separate in and out gates and the strangely-pruned shrubs. Greenwood Cemetery, modeled after Victorian cemeteries, looks like a beautiful place for a leisurely walk. President James Buchanan is buried here.

The one below looks more like a park than a cemetery from this viewpoint. Several famous major-league baseball players are buried her, including Walter Allen "Heavy' Blair, Christopher 'Big Six' Mathewson, and Harry Elwood 'Moose' McCormick.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.